New Israeli concessions to Hamas for the release of the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit have not produced momentum because the kidnapped soldier has become a pawn in the power plays between Cairo, Hamas and Damascus. Khaled Meshaal's trip to Cairo came out of an Egyptian overture to Syria. Bashar Assad took the Palestinian card to serve his crackdown on the opposition and counter-balance his massacre of Latakia's Palestinians.

The Islamic domination of Cairo's Tahrir Square was closely coordinated with al Qaeda-linked attacks in Sinai, as radicals use the post-revolution turmoil to gain strength in Egypt, including the violent Al-Takfir wal-Hijra, believed moribund for decades, which has set up shop in Sinai.

The Egyptian people had their first sight of former president Hosni Mubarak, 83, since his overthrow, lying on a stretcher in an iron cage in the Cairo Police Academy courtroom with his sons and six officials, including former interior minister Habib al-Adli. The ex-president pleaded not guilty to the charges against him of killing protesters and corruption, some of which carry the death penalty. Judge Ahmed Rifaat opened the televised session Wednesday Aug. 3 and adjourned it till Aug. 15.

The day after their El Arish rampage, Al Qaeda gunmen Saturday, July 30, blasted the al Shulaq terminal of the Egyptian-Israeli gas pipeline north of the Sinai town, halting supply for the fifth time since February. This time was different. The saboteurs fired rockets at the terminal until it caught fire, the same tactics they used to raid El Arish Friday. Egyptian forces confronted the assailants but could not save the terminal. This was al Qaeda's first attack on a strategic Israeli installation.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wants to visit Gaza next Sunday or Monday (24-25 July), debkafile reports. But both Turkish and Egyptian security services fear the visit would give the al Qaeda cells based in the Gaza Strip and Sinai a chance to assassinate him. Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas maintains it would amount to de facto Turkish and Egyptian recognition of the Hamas government. And in Jerusalem, Erdogan would appear to be deliberately hampering efforts to heal its rift with Ankara.

Conflicting reports on former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's state of health appeared Sunday night, July 17. State TV said he was in a coma after a stroke. This was denied by the head of the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital. Earlier, as Egypt sank deeper into lawlessness and economic stagnation, the military junta reshuffled the cabinet to placate protesters who accused the generals of "stealing the revolution." Gulf emirates pledged aid if Cairo suppressed dissent and turned away from Washington and against Iran.

Five years after the Israeli soldier Gilead Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas in a cross-border raid from Gaza, members of his family Saturday, June 25, chained themselves to the fence outside the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's residence in desperate protest. debkafile: Their protest is misdirected to the wrong address: Even if Israel bowed to every Hamas demand, its leaders backed by Iran and Syria would set a new price as the pretext for holding on to this prime asset.

On balance, Tehran has decided the Arab Revolt is not good for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nullifying Western influence is good, but the rise of Sunni strength is not, while the revolt engulfing Syria is endangering Iran's nearest and dearest ally. And can Tehran be sure the malaise won't infect its own masses?

The Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian military junta were hand in glove in framing the Mossad Spy trap for the US and Israel. They are also in cahoots to build up the Hamas as the Brotherhood's instrument for seizing control of the Palestinian movement and displacing US influence including its role as peacemaker.

Jerusalem insisted Monday that no Cairo notification had been received of the arrest of dual US-Israeli citizen Ilan Grapel as an alleged Israeli spy, while Washington is checking to see if any word came through. Western intelligence circles suggest Egypt may have preferred to "find" a Mossad spy even if they suspected him of working undercover for other Western organizations. debkafile: The US and Israel are seeking his quick release before agitation against an alleged fomenter of Muslim-Coptic strife makes this impossible.

The first Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood delegation ever has been allowed to visit the Gaza Strip and meet Palestinian Hamas leaders. An unparalleled wave of anti-Israeli venom in Cairo coincided with the delegation's arrival Sunday, June 12: a "Mossad officer" was accused of plotting to sabotage the Egyptian revolution and "inciting sectarian violence" against Copts; Israel was charged with contaminating farm products for Egyptian consumption and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon implicated in ex-President Hosni Mubarak's "corrupt" gas transaction.

King Abdullah is determined to save his friends from the fate suffered by Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. The second-generation Saudi royals have got together to pull the kingdom away from its long dependence on the US and command its own fate and interests, even at the price of clashing with Washington. Assertive as never before, the kingdom is actively involved in 10 Arab and Muslim countries.

Only four months after Hosni Mubarak's removal, Washington wants to be rid of Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Tantawi. After agreeing that the September election should be postponed to save the country from the Muslim Brotherhood and perfect the new constitution, the Obama administration is moving close to common ground with Saudi Arabia in at least one sector.

Just four days after the much-heralded opening of the Rafah crossing between the Palestinian Gaza Strip and Sinai, Cairo virtually shut it down Tuesday, May 31, by a series of tight bureaucratic measures in response to a US warning that since the crossing's opening, Palestinian and al Qaeda terrorists had been roaming at large across Sinai exposing the Suez Canal to attack. After the US informed Jerusalem of the new restrictions, an Israeli defense official arrived in Cairo to discuss security coordination.

Updates reaching debkafile's military sources say that Hamas had stockpiled more than 10,000 by early May – in defiance of Israel's partial blockade of the Gaza Strip. Following April 9, when the Palestinian extremists shot 133 rockets at seven Israeli cities, Egypt's military rulers persuaded Israel to accept a ceasefire in lieu of an operation for smashing this arsenal. By September, when Egypt holds elections that Hamas' parent the Muslim Brotherhood is heavily tipped to win, Hamas will have accumulated 11,000 missiles.

Egyptian authorities plan to follow up on the permanent opening of the Gaza Strip Rafah crossing Saturday, May 28 - so ending its four-year siege - by liquidating EMG (the East Mediterranean Gas Company) and halting the supply of Egyptian gas to Israel.
Both are violations of Egypt's international commitments and both meet the demands of the Palestinian Hamas. They are also consistent with Cairo's post-revolutionary rulers' policy to distance themselves from the former peace relations with Israel.

With a new strategic partner in hand after losing Turkey and Mubarak's Egypt, the Israeli prime minister was in a position to underline Israel's continued adherence to its military option against Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Secret Saudi-Israeli intelligence parleys are now joined by Jordan.

Syria's Bashar Assad and Hizballah had more than one objective in bussing thousands of demonstrators to Israel's Golan border Nakba Day, Sun. May 15. One was to show they could easily capture the enclave from Israel and the other, to put a spoke in Egypt's wheel for transferring Hamas' command centers from Damascus to the Gaza Strip. Israeli policymakers failed to appreciate this intelligence and so the IDF's Northern Command officers were taken off guard by the storming of Majd al-Shams.

Aviv Morag, 29, from Caesaria was killed shortly before his marriage and 17 people were injured - two in serious condition - after being run down by an Israeli Arab, 22, from Kafr Qassem in Tel Aviv, Sunday, May 15. The killer's truck swerved left and right along 2 kilometers of busy road in South Tel Aviv. After knocking over a traffic light, the driver jumped out and shouting Allah Akhbar! used the pieces to beat passers-by who eventually overpowered him.